As we cannot go into an extended account, and show _how this is known_, we will simply say that it is principally by _internal_ evidence that these facts are ascertained.[92:5]
Now that we have seen that Moses did not write the books of the Pentateuch, our next endeavor will be to ascertain _when_ they were written, and _by whom_.
We can say that they were not written by any _one_ person, nor were they written _at the same time_.
We can trace _three_ principal redactions of the Pentateuch, that is to say, the material was _worked over_, and _re-edited_, with _modifications_ and _additions_, by _different people_, at _three distinct epochs_.[93:1]
The two principal writers are generally known as the _Jehovistic_ and the _Elohistic_. We have--in speaking of the "Eden Myth" and the legend of the "Deluge"--already alluded to this fact, and have illustrated how these writers' narratives conflict with each other.
The _Jehovistic_ writer is supposed to have been a prophet, who, it would seem, was anxious to give Israel a history. He begins at Genesis, ii. 4, with a _short_ account, of the "_Creation_," and then he carries the story on regularly until the Israelites enter Canaan. It is to him that we are indebted for the _charming_ pictures of the patriarchs. _He took these from other writings, or from the popular legends._[93:2]
About 725 B. C. the Israelites were conquered by Salmanassar, King of Assyria, and many of them were carried away captives. _Their place was supplied by Assyrian colonists from Babylon, Persia, and other places._[93:3] This fact is of the greatest importance, and should not be forgotten, as we find that the _first_ of the three writers of the Pentateuch, spoken of above, _wrote about this time_, and the Israelites heard, _from the colonists from Babylon, Persia, and other places--for the first time--many of the legends which this writer wove into the fabulous history which he wrote, especially the accounts of the Creation and the Deluge_.
The Pentateuch remained in this, its _first_ form, until the year 620 B. C. Then a certain _priest_ of marked prophetic sympathies wrote a book of law which has come down to us in Deuteronomy, iv. 44, to xxvi., and xxviii. Here we find the demands which the _Mosaic_ party at _that day_ were making thrown into the form of laws. It was by King Josiah that this book was first introduced and proclaimed as authoritative.[93:4] It was soon afterwards _wove into_ the work of the _first_ Pentateuchian writer, and at the same time "_a few new passages_" were added, some of which related to Joshua, the successor of Moses.[94:1]